Ever Imagine What Fibromyalgia Feels Like?

Many people do not know exactly what fibromyalgia is or what it feels like; the confused look that accompanies telling someone you suffer from fibromyalgia is very frustrating. It is not an easy feat to describe what fibromyalgia feels like to someone who has certainly not experienced that level of pain or the challenges that accompany it.

To assist in providing people with an idea of what it feels like to have fibromyalgia, we asked the patients with the condition to attempt to describe fibromyalgia to someone whom has never experienced it. Here is what they had to say:

1. “Remember back to the worst possible illness you’ve ever had, complete with pain and fatigue, in which your head is in a dense, bottomless fog. You thought you should possibly go to the hospital. Now imagine feeling that way nonstop, every day, every night, every minute of your life. You know that if you go to the emergency room they won’t be able to find anything wrong and will suggest you see your general practitioner. That is fibromyalgia.”

2. “Have you ever had the flu, like really bad? Full body aching, every single part of your body hurts including your nails and hair? Yup, those basically describe my good days with fibromyalgia.”

3. “On the worst days, my body can barely move. I feel like I’m walking through a field of JellO and I’m afraid I’ll just topple over and lose my balance at any instant. Just walking, that causes pain. I’m exhausted and can’t sleep.”

4. “The pain is so intense that you feel like puking. It’s difficult to eat, think, sleep, or do any ‘normal’ things. It feels like you’re stuck in a noisy cave with no escape, surrounded by echoes. Smells are intolerable – not certain smells, all smells. You sit in a dark room because the light pains your eyes and you feel faint like a carnival ride.”

5. “Pair the worst flu you’ve ever faced and combine that with falling down four flights of stairs, straight into a wasps nest. That’s fibromyalgia.”

6. “It’s like the sore, stiff muscles that you feel the day after a very strenuous workout. Welp, a very strenuous workout in which you got sunburnt, fell and broke your nose, and then had the flu. The exhaustion feels like your blood has transformed to cement and is stuck.”

7. “Basically, my body either feels like someone has a voodoo doll and is twisting all the pins at once, or like I’ve been hit by a bus. Zero relief.”

8. “It feels like your body was in a car accident at the same time you were suffering from the flu, and now neither one has gone away.”